Submission
A Senate Inquiry was held into the response to, and lessons learnt from, the 2016 bushfires in remote Tasmanian wilderness.
The 1999 Management Plan for the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) prescriptions on fire suppression clearly prioritise the protection of rare and threatened fire sensitive species ahead of all other objectives except for the protection of human life. Several aspects of the recent bushfires suggest that this prioritisation was not effectively implemented in the operational management of the recent firefighting efforts.
If the outstanding universal values of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area are to be protected in the long-term, this must be addressed.
The Walls of Jerusalem, one of the area’s threatened by the 2016 bushfires. Photo: Grant Dixon
“Effective fire management depends on a range of risk management actions, none of which on their own provides a complete solution.”